Phan Huy Duong Knihy

Gifted with extraordinary vitality and talent, Suong, with her crystal voice, ardently loves the musician Hung. Stubborn and naive, she offers no forgiveness, no morality, and harbors no regrets despite the misunderstanding and cynicism that arise with peace in Vietnam. This love story, woven from memories and nourished by the lyricism of childhood voices and scents, leaves us dazzled by such enthusiasm in the face of mediocrity, and by this intact energy in the face of the painful decline and despair experienced by her lover Hung, the true hero of the book, who can no longer find harmony with himself and his art.

Paradise of the Blind is an exquisite portrait of three Vietnamese women struggling to survive in a society where subservience to men is expected and Communist corruption crushes every dream. Through the eyes of Hang, a young woman in her twenties who has grown up amidst the slums and intermittent beauty of Hanoi, we come to know the tragedy of her family as land reform rips apart their village. When her uncle Chinh‘s political loyalties replace family devotion, Hang is torn between her mother‘s appalling self–sacrifice and the bitterness of her aunt who can avenge but not forgive. Only by freeing herself from the past will Hang be able to find dignity –– and a future.